Circulatory System

Circulatory System
The Body’s Transport System
Cardiovascular System
• Also called the circulatory system
• Consists of the heart, blood vessels &
blood.
• It carries needed substances to cells and
carries waste products away.
• Blood contains cells that fight disease.
The Heart
• Hollow muscular organ
that pumps blood
through the body
• Size of fist
• Located center of the
body, behind the
sternum (breast bone)
• Each beat pushes blood
through the blood vessels
• Composed of cardiac
muscle tissue
Heart’s Structure
• Has a right and left side
• Right and Left side is separated by a wall of
tissue called the septum
• Each side has two chambers, an upper and
lower chamber
• The upper chambers are called atrium and both
receive blood to the heart.
• Lower chambers are called the ventricles and
pump blood out of the heart.
• A valve between chambers (atrium & ventricles)
prevents blood from flowing backwards
How the Heart Works
• Two main phases for the
action of the heart.
• Phase one: muscle
relaxes and heart fills with
blood
• Phase two: the heart
muscle contracts and
pumps blood forward.
• Heart beat, lub-dub, is
what is heard during the
pumping phase.
Forces of the Ventricles
• When the muscle cells in
the ventricles contract,
they exert a force on the
blood
• The force pushes the
blood out the heart and
into the arteries.
• Contraction of the right
ventricle sends blood to
the lungs.
• Contraction of the left
ventricle sends blood
throughout the rest of the
body.
Two Loops – Pattern of Blood Flow
• Loop One:
• Blood travels from the
heart to the lungs
• Blood flows into the right
atrium
• Then to the right ventricle
and out to the lungs via
the pulmonary artery
• Blood in the lungs
exchange oxygen and
carbon dioxide
Two Loops – Pattern of Blood Flow
• Loop Two:
• Blood returns from the
lungs into the left atrium
• Blood leaves the heart via
the left ventricle and
travels throughout the
body
• Oxygen moves out of the
blood into the body cells
and takes up carbon
dioxide.
• Blood returns to the heart
and loop one starts again.
Type of Vessels
• Arteries: vessels that carry blood away
from the heart.
• Veins: vessels that carry blood back to the
heart.
• Capillaries: tiny vessels between arteries
and veins. Very narrow (only one cell
wide). Site of oxygen and carbon dioxide
exchange.